Kalighat kali temple

Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata is regarded as the holiest peeth or pith of the 52 Shakti Peethams of India. Before moving on let me tell you all a story. The story is that near the present temple of Kali, a Brahmin used to do his prayers in the midst of thick forest. One evening while reciting the mantras on the banks of Bhagirathi River, he found a ray of light coming from the bed of the river. In the morning light he found out that there was a piece of stone carved like a human toe under the clear water. The Brahmin picked it up and worshipped the piece of stone. That night the Brahmin had a dream that the piece of stone was nothing else than the toe of Sati which had been cut off by the Siidarsan Chakra of Vishnu. This story relates to the story of the enraged Shiva going round the world with the dead body of his consort Sati, on his shoulders and lest the Tandav Nrilva of Lord Shivastroys the world, Lord Vishnu started cutting off the limbs of Sati; wherever the limbs fell became a Pithasthan or a very great place of pilgrimage. A toe had fallen in the river of Bhagirathi by the side of Kalighat and so Kalighat is a Pithasthan. The Brahmin searched and found a Svayambhu Lingam of Nakuleshwar Bhairav nearby, and then he took the toe and put it near the image of Nakuleshwar and, started worshipping them. It is said the name of the Brahmin was Atma Ram.

Kali idol at Kalighat

 Now let me come to the most interesting part of the Mandir. You will find the idol of Kali in this temple is unique. It does not follow the pattern of other Kali idols in Bengal. The present idol of touchstone was created by two saints - Brahmananda Giri and Atmaram Giri. Three huge eyes, long protruding tongue and four hands, are all made of gold. Two of these hands hold a scimitar and a severed head of the Asura king 'Shumbha'. The scimitar signifies Divine Knowledge and the asura (or, human) head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands are in the abhaya and varada mudras or blessings, which mean her initiated devotees (or anyone worshiping her with a true heart), will be saved as she will guide them here and hereafter.

 Now the original temple was built by Raja Basanta Roy, who was the uncle of Pratapaditya and the King of Jessore (Bangladesh). The original temple was situated on the banks of Hooghly; however the river has shifted away from the temple over the period of time.

Original Kalighat temple

As the temple in situated on the banks of Adi Ganga, the temple has a sanctum sanctorum in the company of a huge hall by the name of Nat Mandir. Then when you move to the North-East of this sanctum, there is a Shiva Temple. You will also find one more shrine dedicated to Radha Krishna. The main attraction of this temple lies in the image of Goddess Kali that bears a long protruded tongue made out of gold.  

List of other associated temples in Kalighat Kali Temple

Soshti Tala Nat Mandir Jor-Bangla Harkath Tala Radha Krishna Temple Kundupukur Nakuleshwar Mahadev Temple

Debosmita Biswas

PGPMC

2nd sem